Product Summary

Investment Casting is also known as lost wax casting, investment casting is an industrial process used to create metal parts with great detail that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with other casting methods. Investment casting uses a pattern that is destroyed as part of the process, thus making an investment in the finished product. This process is the oldest known casting process used by man, and the original investment casting patterns were made using beeswax.

Investment casting is one of the most basic metal-forming techniques. It is a multi-step process that delivers fine details at a reasonable cost. The equipment cost for investment casting is considered to be minimal, compared with other forms of full-mold casting or die casting. In investment casting, a master pattern is created using wax, wood, foam or other materials. The master pattern is essentially a prototype of the part that is to be made. This master pattern is then converted into a mold, or master die, that might be made of metal steel wood or rubber.

After the metal and the investment mold are allowed to cool, the finished product is retrieved. This is done by destroying the investment mold using a one of several means. Common methods of destroying the investment mold are hammering, media blasting, high pressure washing, vibration and chemical baths that dissolve the investment mold.